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African grey behaviour

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African grey behaviour

Postby Saman7 » Wed Feb 01, 2017 4:51 pm

I was just wondering what it means if an african grey detaches his wing away from his body and flaps them, but the flapping looks more like twitching. He does it at night and when im about to leave the room. If i leave he starts whistling and clicking. He also hunches down with his wings in that position or stands upright with his neck extended and eyes wide as if hes worried about something.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby Wolf » Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:55 pm

Without being able to see the behavior, I won't say for sure but this sounds to me a lot like normal begging behavior and in this situation I would say that the Grey is begging you to stay with it. Being left alone is not a natural thing for a parrot. In their wild setting they are never alone from the time they hatch until they die. They are so wired to never be alone that they risk death by calling for their flock even though it might bring a predator instead. They get a large part of their feelings of safety, security and well being from being with their flock. Sometimes this is difficult for humans to understand and even more difficult to do.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby ParrotsForLife » Thu Feb 02, 2017 3:31 am

Wolf wrote:Without being able to see the behavior, I won't say for sure but this sounds to me a lot like normal begging behavior and in this situation I would say that the Grey is begging you to stay with it. Being left alone is not a natural thing for a parrot. In their wild setting they are never alone from the time they hatch until they die. They are so wired to never be alone that they risk death by calling for their flock even though it might bring a predator instead. They get a large part of their feelings of safety, security and well being from being with their flock. Sometimes this is difficult for humans to understand and even more difficult to do.

As I read that I knew exactly what he was talking about because Tiko always did it for food and its similar looking to the way they move when they plan on flying somewhere.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby liz » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:46 am

Rainbow is pushing 32 and still does it. It is not just for food. He uses it for everything that he wants but most of the time he tells me what it is. (She was following my daughter and doing the flapping when she finally asked him what he wanted. He said "Pick this boy up".)

I picked that up while volunteering at the Wildlife Rehab at the NC Zoo. Every spring they get a room full of baby birds. Sometimes as high as 50. (No one else wanted in that room because the babies cried as well as begged. So I took it. The worse part was that no one came to check on me for fear I would leave.) It was horrendous with that many babies crying and flapping.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby alienlady » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:49 am

liz wrote:Rainbow is pushing 32 and still does it. It is not just for food. He uses it for everything that he wants but most of the time he tells me what it is. (She was following my daughter and doing the flapping when she finally asked him what he wanted. He said "Pick this boy up".)

I picked that up while volunteering at the Wildlife Rehab at the NC Zoo. Every spring they get a room full of baby birds. Sometimes as high as 50. (No one else wanted in that room because the babies cried as well as begged. So I took it. The worse part was that no one came to check on me for fear I would leave.) It was horrendous with that many babies crying and flapping.

Liz that must have been heart breaking, bless you.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby Pajarita » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:37 am

But why weren't they being fed, Liz?
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby liz » Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:45 am

They were being fed. A momma bird will usually fill one up then go to the next.
There were so many birds that it could not be done. Instead I would give one a mouthful then move to the next. Because there were so many and I was so slow it was a never ending story. They all got their bellies full by the end of the day.

The Chimney Swifts were the ones I was concerned about. There were at least a hundred in an outside cage. The noise was outrageous. When I was put out there I ask another volunteer how she knew when they were full. She said she fed them until she got tired. WRONG. When I went in the door I was mobbed by birds. I fed them and fed them then when their bellies were full they moved away. Another group mobbed me and I fed them until they were so full that I was no longer important to them. Then the last group came up. They were not as aggressive but I knew they were just as hungry. Then I realized that that group was barely getting fed. The volunteer would get tired and leave before they were fed. When I left them there was no noise. Everyone was full and happy.
I made the lady in charge come out with me and she could not believe they were quiet. I gave her an ear full. I hope she listened because I was put on the black list and never sent out that door again.

So many things made me angry there and I just had to keep going back until my Momma needed me more. Oscar was a vulture in an outside cage by himself. There was a big rock outside his cage that I would sit on for smoke brakes. He thought I was there to visit him and would come down on the ground and up against the cage. He was so smart. When I talked he listened. He showed me a game he made up with a rotten log and the pebbles he had in his cage. He was smart. I was giving him twigs to chew up then with a big branch we played tug of war. I always let him win before I had to go back in. The next time I went out he would bring what was left of the branch to the side I was sitting on. A year later I had the time so I went back and found out he was put down. When I asked why I was told he could not be released and was not social. It hit the fan. I asked another volunteer "did he ever come up to you with a stick?" He said yes and I told him what Oscar was doing.
I was told by the woman in charge that I was thinking of the animals as humans and to not come back.

Sorry did not mean to take over the thread but I am very angry again just remembering.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby Pajarita » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:13 am

No, don't apologize, Liz. People need to hear what really goes on in places like zoos and even rehabilitation centers. Visitors are only shown the 'good parts' so they think that people who work there love animals and that the animals are well taken care of but it's not true.
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby Bird woman » Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:50 pm

You know I wasn't going to post to this butt I didn't think you guys wouldn't mind if I vented. People that want to hide under the pretense of rescuer , Polly do Gooder , humanitarian or what ever the f--- they want to call themselves should all know there's a special place and life all planned out for them to get exactly what they gave. I saw a post yesterday on the net where a poor cockatoo what I thought had gotten into a plastic bottle got trapped and I thought to myself there we go again with animals dealing with our trash. Upon clicking on the story I was mortified to find out that these too's have been put in these bottles by smugglers for transport. Cramed all the way in with the lid off so they can breath. I'm still crying today , didn't get any sleep last night couldn't get the image out of my head . If I ever saw that done I would happily spend the rest of my life in prison for murder. God how could anyone ever think that was okay :shock: we don't deserve to have this earth! Thanks for listening and letting me vent . All the birds they showed had died when the border patrol had busted them there were several. BW
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Re: African grey behaviour

Postby GreenWing » Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:20 pm

Is it wiggling? I need more info, but it sounds like the Grey is "begging," if not for food, for you to be near. My Grey does this when I watch the telly and I'm three feet away. Usually this means she wants to step up.
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